Emergency Visit to Laser Quest

The holiday season may be time for special family events, but when it comes to boys - they still need an energy outlet. My boys are great at school, other families houses or any time they can go outsideto play. But when it comes to a rainy cold days, things start getting wild. I know some boys can sit and play with a paper clip for hours, but most have what I call "boy energy". Boy energy is a force not to be reckoned with. That force can be sidetracked with Legos, reading, building games and other games for just so long. Then it is time to either put them in front of a screen or take serious action.

It all started when we realized that the bike ride I had planned for my 10 year old son and his friend, over for a playdate, could not take place because of rain.  We don't allow any gun toys into the house, but two Nerf guns slipped into holiday gifts. My normally pleasant son and his normally pleasant friend decided that my 6 year old twin boys made great targets for the Nerf guns. That is when I decided that an emergency visit to Laser Quest was the action needed to separate the older and younger boys.

So I did what any self respecting mom of three boys would do in this situation:

I told the my older son and his friend to get in the car (STAT), strapped my BlackBerry earphones on (STAT) and called Laser Quest.

When a voice answered I said "This is an emergency, I have two 10 year old boys in the car with me that need at least two sessions at Laser Quest. I will be there soon. Please tell me there is room in the next two sessions. Please (in a begging voice).

Laser Quest recognized the urgency and said "Give me your name and I will hold the reservation". I then took a deep breath and felt myself starting to relax. When I got there, the boys went to play laser games while I sat with three other moms-in-black-commando-sweats. All of us shared a quiet moment together, our own version of holiday joy.

That afternoon while reading the tech blog Engadget I saw a post on Nerf Guns, which helped me realize that some boys never grow up...

Original Silicon Valley Moms Blog Post. Beth Blecherman is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Mom of the Silicon Valley Moms Group. Her personal blog TechMamas.com is a tech blog with a parenting slant.